A/N: Okay, I'm back with new chapter! I had a hard time with this one, actually, because a lot of diary entries were missing...Rina-chan, do you really want to go through with this? I'm a bit worried for you, I mean, this thing should be private...

Mei: As long as 'Rina' is just a pseudonym for your friend, she should be fine, Kari-chan!

Me: I guess you're right...

Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade, and only a few of the events here are entirely fictional...not that there are any as of yet...

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Chapter 2: A New Beginning

"Kai, you've gotten pretty good!" Yuri exclaimed as he flipped the pages of Kai's sketchpad excitedly. "In your pin-ups and standard drawings, it's not that obvious, but in your manga, it really shows."

"Thanks, Yuri, but I still think you're the better artist."

"Yeah, I know…"

"Oh, for-!"

It was around two weeks into the new school year. Happily, Kai and Yuri were on speaking terms, and – to tell the truth – it was as if nothing had happened between the two of them. It was different for the other two – Ivan Petriovsky and Boris Kuznetsov; they avoided Kai at all costs.

Kai smiled as he recalled an incident that happened just that Monday…

It was break time, and Yuri had once more left the classroom, but only for a little while. Then he had returned and asked to borrow Kai's clear book – the spiral-bound plastic folder with see-through sleeves where he kept all his artwork – and brought it outside.

Partly out of curiosity, and partly because he felt the urge to use the washroom, Kai, too, left the room.

As he was walking towards the toilet, he noticed Yuri standing alone in the corridor, trying not to look inconspicuous, and the clear book remained unopened. Kai glanced away from the redhead to see both Ivan and Boris running away from him – Kai – in opposite directions. Usually, this would have been mortifying for the slate-haired teen, but in this case, he found it almost hilarious. Students around them had kept giving the two weird looks, since they apparently found no valid reason for them to be running.

Kai had chuckled then when he realized how foolish Boris and Ivan looked, and then had continued on his way.

"Yuri! Kai! Over here!" A familiar voice called, causing Kai to snap out of his reverie.

Both Kai and Yuri looked up to see Kinomiya Takao waving them over. Yuri smiled, closed the sketchpad and handed it back to Kai before standing up and making his way to the steel blue-eyed teen; Kai followed close behind.

"Hey, Takao." Kai greeted first. "What is it this time?"

"Nothin' much," Takao answered between bites of his sandwich. "Have you guys finished eating already?"

Yuri nodded. "Yup. Around ten minutes ago. Why?"

"It's so quiet in here; I just wanted some artists to talk to."

"Gee, that's too bad…" The icy-eyed teen said, grinning. "I can account for only one here."

"Thanks a lot, Yuri." Kai said, glancing at him pointedly. They were used to this kind of jokes; they did it a lot back in second year.

"You're welcome."

"Anyway," Takao piped in, crumpling the sandwich paper and tossing it expertly into the wastebasket nearby. "Have you guys realized that this is our last year in junior high?" Both Kai and Yuri nodded, indicating that he should continue. "Well, I just thought we should make it more…memorable for the three of us."

"That sounds right…" Kai said, running a hand through his hair. "Do you have anything in mind?"

"Err…we could work on a comic book together – you know, a collaboration?"

"Oookay…" Yuri said, still unconvinced. "Problem: the story? And who'll work on which part?"

"Hold your horses; I'll think of something…" Takao replied.

Takao, Yuri and Kai had actually met back in their first year. All three – and Ivan – had joined the same club. It was also that year that they discovered each other's passion for art.

"Oh, yeah! Kai, what was it that Yuri was looking at a moment ago?" Takao asked, grinning at the slate-haired teen. "A sketchpad or something?"

"Yup." Kai replied, instinctively clutching the sketchpad tighter.

"May I see?"

"Um…" Kai glanced off towards the window, as if in deep thought; in reality, he was apprehensive about showing his artwork to anyone else except Yuri and Hiromi, since he'd known them for a longer time. But Takao's a friendhe thought fiercely. He can see it if he wants to; he's not going to make senseless, painful comments about my drawings…

Smiling, he held out the book. "Here. I have to warn you though, most of it's crap."

Takao took the proffered sketchbook and started to flip through it. Kai sat down in order to see the blue-haired teen's face more clearly.

"Wow! I really envy you, Kai!" Takao exclaimed. Kai looked up, startled.

"Huh?"

"This is manga, right? Takao held up the pad, showing a page of sequential art. Kai nodded.

"It's really good. Or rather, it's quite obvious that you're improving. It shows in the difference of art in successive pages." Takao put it on his desk and continued to leaf through it. "When did you start this?"

"Half-way through first year."

"So you improved this much in less than two years. Impressive…"

"Glad you think so. But I still think that you and Yuri are better than me. You should see Yuri's work; he's mastered most traditional coloring techniques, and he's a whiz at CG works."

"I've seen his art on the website." Takao replied; he still hadn't looked up from the sketchpad. "But your work is something special, Kai."

"What do you mean?"

"Neither Yuri nor I can draw succeeding pages of art, using the same characters over and over again." The steel blue-eyed teen finally looked up and smiled reassuringly. "Believe me, Kai, it takes true talent to come up with a character on a whim, and draw him – or her – again and again. Also, you have to incorporate backgrounds on some panels, right?"

Kai nodded again. "So?"

"While you're improving your drawing techniques, you're also improving how you render both city and natural landscapes. Not to mention your shading has taken a turn for the better."

Kai grinned brightly. "You think so? I think it needs a little more work."

"Don't you know?" Yuri added, leaning on the edge of Takao's desk. "The artist's most persistent critic is the artist himself?"

"I didn't know that…" Kai muttered, looking at the floor.

"That means, though you see your work as mediocre, the truth is, it's already very good. And I – no, we mean that, Kai." Yuri continued, smiling. "Don't let anyone else tell you otherwise…"

"Okay…" Takao piped up, pulling a disgusted face. "Yuri, quit it with the touchy-feely act; you're scaring me."

Both Kai and Yuri chuckled.

"So, about the collaborative comic book…"

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"…So we decided that Takao would design the characters, I would pencil and ink the pages – trying to stick to original character design, of course – and Yuri would color them, using his PC, and then post them on-line."

Hiwatari Yuuhi smiled at his teenage son. "That sounds like a fine idea, Kai." He put down his chopsticks. "Though I prefer that you work on your traditional art – scenery, portraits, charcoals – if that's what you want, then it's fine with me. As long as it helps you to make more friends."

"I'm pretty much fine with the ones I have, Dad." Kai said, shoveling the last of his rice into his mouth. He swallowed. "At least I know that they accept me for who I am."

"But don't you think-"

"Yuuhi, if Kai is comfortable with a small group, then it's all right." Hiwatari Akiko – Kai's mother – intervened quietly. "Besides, don't you think its better to start off with a small group, even if there are just three of them?" She smiled and glanced at Kai, then back to her husband. "Besides, there may be more of them after some time…"

Kai smiled appreciatively at his mother, then finished his tea. "Goochisosama." He stood up. "I'm going upstairs now. I need to study for a history quiz tomorrow."

His father smiled and nodded. "Go ahead."

Kai turned to go, but his father stopped him. "Oh, and Kai?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't let this group project of yours get in the way of schoolwork, okay?"

Kai smiled. "I won't, Dad."

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Kai leaned back in his seat and stretched his arms upward until he felt the joints loosening. Finally! He thought, a grin on his face as he surveyed the papers laid out on his desk. I'm done with all this homework!

He carefully gathered everything up and slid it into a brown envelope labeled 'Homework', which he then slipped into his schoolbag. Then, he got up and went to his CD player and pressed the 'Play' button. Instantly, the room filled with music from one of Shin Hwa's albums –a gift from Yuri when they were in second year.

Once seated again at his desk, Kai took out his sketchpad, his favorite mechanical pencil, and then flipped to the most recent page in his comic book. After studying it for a few minutes, he turned to an empty page and began laying out the next page.

Driing!

Kai looked up as his room phone rang. He dropped his drawing materials and then walked quickly towards the phone and picked up the receiver. He pressed the 'Talk' button – his phone was a wireless extension.

"Moshi moshi?"

"Kai?" A familiar voice came on the line.

"Hai."

"It's me, Takao."

"Yeah, I guessed. What is it?"

"Do you have to answer to number twelve for our algebra homework?"

"I can tell you the formula, but you'll have to figure out the answer for yourself."

"Might as well take what you can get…" Takao grumbled. There was a slight rustle from the other end – the blue-haired teen must have taken out a piece of paper – and then, "So? What's the formula?"

Kai told him and then made to end the call.

"Hang on! I didn't call just to ask for homework answers!" Takao interrupted quickly. "I also wanted to tell you about the collaborative manga we agreed to work on."

"So what about it?" Kai said, making himself comfortable on the bed. "Did you come up with a story?"

"Actually, I came up with a character first, then a story. So it was a story made to fit a character instead of the other way around."

"That's new…"

"Anyway, I'll show you the draft tomorrow. As for the story, how does this sound? The main character's the last surviving member of his clan, and he's currently under the tutelage of the highest mage in their town, village, city, or whatever. Anyway, he's mediocre or something, and then one day he finds out that he's the Rune Soldier of legend. These three girls tell him so."

"Sounds good so far…" Kai said distractedly. He could tell it was going to be another 'defeat the dark lord thing'…or so he thought.

"And then, after a lot of traveling to find the 'Dark Lord' he and his new companions have to defeat-"

"I knew it." Kai said suddenly.

"Huh?" Takao sounded puzzled.

"That the story was going to be another 'good against evil' story."

"Ah-ah-ah…" Takao said, using the same tone a mother might use against a wayward, 2-year-old toddler. "Don't jump to conclusions just yet. I haven't even finished."

"So finish already. You still have homework to do."

"Right. Anyway, they find the Dark Lord's base of operations – or something like that – but they find no one inside. In the end, the main character – I haven't thought of a name yet – finds out that his 'greatest foe', the one he must destroy, is his own self, but from the future."

Kai sat straight up. "No way!"

"Like it?" The steel blue-eyed teen asked. Kai could almost see him smirking.

"It's…good. Very original. You'd better inform Yuri, though. He might find something to add or something."

"Yeah, whatever. Anyway, later, dude."

"Sure. Later." Kai quickly ended the call. He replaced the receiver in its cradle and returned to his desk and his art.

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"So…this is the main character?" Yuri asked, one crimson eyebrow raised questioningly. He looked up from the sketchpad – a pale blue one – he held.

"The male character, at least…" Takao grinned. "The females are on the next few pages."

"How many females are there, exactly?" The redhead asked, the fingers of one hand poised to flip the page.

"There are only three female main characters, Yuri." The dark blue-haired teen replied.

"I see…" Yuri flipped the three pages in turn, noting the different characters depicted in each, with Kai looking on.

"What the-!" the slate-haired teen exclaimed. "Takao, are you sure I'll be able to stick to your character designs?"

Takao gave the crimson-eyed teen a thumbs-up. "Sure you can, Kai! I've complete faith in you!"

"Yeah, sure…" Kai glanced at the floor, suddenly doubtful he could put up his end of the three-way collaboration. His doubts were not without cause; the stormy-eyed teen's characters were rather complicated to copy, and since these four were the main characters, it meant that Kai would have to draw them the most.

"Anyway, Kai, here you go." Yuri broke into the silent teen's reverie. He held out the sketchpad. "Since you're the mangaka, you'll need this as a guide of sorts. I doubt Takao has the layout for the first page yet…"

Kai gave a tiny smile as he took the sketchpad out of the ice blue-eyed teen's hands. "Erm…thanks, Yuri. I…guess I should start practicing sketching these guys-"

DRIIIIIINGGGG!

"…Or maybe not." Kai added as an afterthought; the bell for class had rung.

"Well, how about we talk a bit more about the comic book later during break?" Takao suggested.

"I suppose…" The crimson-haired teen replied hesitantly, already making his way towards his seat.

Takao turned to Kai. "How about you, Kai?"

"Why not?" Kai grinned. "We do need to talk about the first page…"

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"Tadaimasu." Kai called out. School was over for the day, and he had gone home directly in order to finish his homework and work on a 'sample page' for the collaborated comic.

A maid, in the process of drying a dish, came out of the kitchen. She smiled when she saw that her young charge had made it home safely. "Itterashai, Kai-sama."

Kai smiled back. "Where are Mom and Dad? Aren't they home yet?" he asked.

"Your parents have left on a business trip, young master. Only Souchirou-sama stayed behind this time."

"I see…" Kai walked over to the dining table, picked up and apple, and bit into it. It gave a satisfying crunch. He didn't really mind being left alone with his grandfather; besides, he thought, chewing thoughtfully, if Mom and Dad are gone, no one can pester me about not mingling with others my age…

He nodded his thanks to the maid – who turned and went back into the kitchen – and made his way over to the stairs. He decided to stop by his grandfather's study, then go to room and change out of his school uniform.

This was going to be a wonderful, quiet weekend.

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"Wow!" Takao breathed as he took the slim sketchpad out of Kai's hands. It was Monday afternoon – PE time for them, but Kai, Takao, and Yuri didn't feel like running laps or doing anything strenuous – and the two of them were waiting for the crimson-haired Russian to come out of the locker room. "Kai, you already have five pages ready? Are you doing this for a marathon manga-illustrating contest?"

Kai smiled sheepishly. "Well, I finished my homework rather quickly and since I already know the first part of the story – the introduction, at least – I decided to do a sample page."

"You said 'sample page'. So how come you have FIVE pages in this sketchpad of yours?" The dark blue-haired teen waved said sketchpad in his companion's face.

"Um…I got bored, so-"

"So what, Kai?"

The amethyst-eyed teen glanced up and grinned. "Oh, hey, Yuri. You finally came out of the lockers."

Yuri nodded, and then sat down on the grassy field beside his two friends. "What did I miss?"

"Mr. Speed Illustrator here just showed me five pages for that comic we're collaborating…" Takao answered, tossing the sketchpad into Yuri's lap. The ice-blue eyes widened.

"Five fully-inked pages? Kai, what did you do? Forget your homework?"

"Of course not!" Kai huffed indignantly, crossing his arms over his chest. "In case you forgot, Ivanov, I handed in all my homework for each subject today. Besides, five pages isn't a lot-"

"Five penciled pages, Kai, in three days, is fine. But five inked ones? Don't think so…" The flame-haired teen grinned as he leafed through the book. "Hey, it's pretty good. Takao," he continued, looking up at the stormy-eyed teen. "You should take a closer look at this. Kai managed to stick quite close to your original character design."

Takao was silent as he looked the pages over. Then he gave Kai a thumbs-up. "Way cool, Kai. But didn't you have a hard time copying the character – or characters?"

The slate-haired teen smiled and shook his head. "Not at all. I did a few practice sketches on cheap paper, then on Saturday, when I knew I had the characters down pat, I went out and bought a new sketchpad solely for this project. Then I did the pages. I know I was only supposed to do one, but I got into the spirit of things, so I didn't want to stop…"

"I think you ought to do only three pages this week, Kai." Yuri said, looking up from the sketchpad again. He grinned sheepishly. "I'll only be able to color and post two pages a week, and we're only supposed to be testing this for a month, so…"

"I gotcha, Yuri," Kai said, half-laughing. "But seriously," he continued, sobering up, "I think the inking looks a bit rushed, doesn't it?"

Yuri shook his head. "Nope. It doesn't mar the pencils, and it doesn't look rushed at all."

"Really?"

"Yeah! Believe it or not, Kai, among the three of us, you're probably the best choice for manga illustration."

"So you keep telling me…" Kai muttered.

"And it's the truth!" Yuri exclaimed, a puzzled look on his face. "Why do you put yourself down so much?"

"Oh?" Kai arched an eyebrow and smirked. "Look who's talking! Who's the one who's mastered virtually all traditional coloring techniques and digital coloring, yet still declares his work is crap?"

"Well, my sequential art is crap, Hiwatari…"

"Same here," Takao cut in, then smiled. "Aw, c'mon, guys, why are we arguing about whose work is worse and whatnot? We all excel in different areas. You, Kai, are the best sequential artist among us; Yuri's the best at digital coloring; and I rule at pencil sketches. See? We're even, to some degree."

"Guess you're right…" Kai acceded, smiling. "Now can I have the sketchpad back? The way you guys are handling it, it'll be full of wrinkles, and you know I hate it when the paper is wrinkled too much…"

"Yeah, whatever, Illustrator-boy," Takao rolled his eyes as Yuri gave back the un-wrinkled sketchpad. "Now, who's up for the arcade?"

"Are you sure you want to go again, Takao?" Yuri asked. The stormy-eyed teen nodded, to which the redhead smirked. "That anxious to beat Kai, huh?"

"Beat me at what?" Kai asked innocently, though he knew instantly what his friend was referring to.

"At 'Drummania: 10th Mix', of course!" Takao replied. "Do you think I'll forget my utter defeat from the last time? I think not!"

"Whoa, boy, you're being too dramatic!" Yuri cut in, chuckling. "It's just a game!"

"To you, maybe, but I was the one who introduced it to him, and that was just a few weeks ago!"

"So?"

"So!" Takao looked slightly ticked off. "Yuri, you got hooked around the same time Kai did, and you're still having trouble with 'Russian Roulette'; what about Kai?"

"Uh…" Yuri averted his gaze. "He…finished it…"

"With what grade when he first finished it?"

"It was a…" Kai replied, looking down at his shoes. "A 'B'…"

"There! You see? It's only been a few weeks and he's managed to earn a 'B' on that song, which is probably one of the hardest in standard mode and without any automated machine responses! Don't you see how embarrassing this is for me? I've been going to the arcade since halfway through summer, and I haven't even finished that song!"

"Hey, it's not my fault if you have awful hand-eye-foot coordination," Kai protested. "And besides, that kind of problem can be fixed; you just need to practice more."

"Which is why we're going today, my friends…" Takao answered, grinning as he grabbed Kai and Yuri by the arms and began dragging them towards the lockers.

"Takao! Do you know how embarrassing this is!" Yuri fairly yelled; he did not like being dragged along!

"Besides, we can't change yet." Kai added, "The dismissal bell hasn't even rung!"

The dark blue-haired teen stopped short, and then let go of their arms. "Oh, yeah…" he grinned sheepishly. "Oops…"

"Just in case you ask, Kinomiya," Yuri said, looking at his wristwatch, "we have to wait around ten more minutes for the bell. Then we can change and go play your precious game."

"But…how about a snack before we leave?" Kai suggested. He wasn't usually one to suggest a visit to the cafeteria, but he knew that his friends tended to get involved in their games – so much, in fact, that if they went soon after lunch, the two would forget to take a snack, and by late afternoon, Takao would be complaining of a stomach aching from hunger.

"Good idea!" Takao said, eyes lighting up at the thought of food. "But we have to make it quick; I don't want too many people to be there when we start playing on the drumpad."

"Sure, why not?" Yuri added in agreement. The proposal was sensible enough; he knew how he and the stormy-eyed teen could get about games.

"Then it's settled…" Kai said, flopping down on his back onto the grass. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm just going to try and take a nap before we go. Maybe inspiration for a new drawing will come while I'm napping."

"Don't kid us, Kai," Yuri said, taking a swipe at the slate-haired teen's head. "We know it isn't your habit to nap in school, even when it is free time."

Kai chuckled, not bothered by the 'hit' he'd just taken. "Whatever, Ivanov…"

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"I don't believe this!" Takao exclaimed, his jaw open and his arms dangling limply at his sides.

"Kai…what did you do?" Yuri glanced down at the slate-haired teen, who also stared, transfixed, at the screen he sat in front of.

"I don't know…" Kai replied, one arm extended over the upper-right pad – symbolizing the cymbal on a real drum set – where it had been poised to hit it, but had stopped before it could even execute the action.

"What do you mean, you don't know?" the stormy-eyed teen beside him fairly shrieked. "What song did you just play?"

"'Russian Roulette'…" the amethyst-eyed teen replied, glancing down at his shoes.

"And you got an 'S'!" Takao continued, practically glaring at the screen as though the game – Drummania 10th Mix – had made a mistake. "How the hell did you do that?"

"I told, you, Kinomiya, I don't know!" Kai shot back, finally hitting the 'cymbal' and exiting from the score page. "I just…followed the symbols on the screen, like anyone who plays this game does."

"Yeah, but from a 'B' to an 'S'? That's almost impossible!" The dark blue-haired teen narrowed his eyes suspiciously at Kai, who was currently going through the choices of songs for his extra stage – a rare occurrence in their group. "You didn't program the machine to automate the bass, did you?"

"Now why would I do that?" Kai asked, finally choosing a song. "I haven't done that ever since you guys introduced me to this game."

"There's a first time for everything, you know…"

"Not for this one," Kai replied, turning his attention back to the game; the song was starting. He'd played this song before and had failed the stage, but he wanted to try it out, just for kicks.

"Takao, will you stop whining indirectly about your lack in the coordination compartment?" Yuri finally opened his mouth and spoke. "You should be glad someone finally nailed that song without using the 'auto' facilities."

"Yeah, well…Hey! I haven't heard that song before!" the stormy-eyed teen exclaimed suddenly, taking notice of the furious bass beat and hand combos Kai was performing.

"Yeah, it's new to me, too." Yuri added, watching the symbols they were supposed to follow appear at the top and disappear at the bottom of the screen. "What song is that, Kai?"

"It's 'My Friend'; I don't know the artist, though…" Kai replied, not taking his eyes off the screen. "Now be quiet; the hard part's coming up…"

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Rina's Diary:

Mom and Dad left for another business trip, but it's okay. I'm going over to my cousins' house to stay with them while my parents are gone. At least their house is closer to school…

Ran, Ami and I are starting our own manga – that's Japanese for 'comic book'. And they made me the illustrator, something about having a better eye and skills for sequential art, they said.

It's great to have friends again, but it's like I can't open up that much to them yet; guess I'm still afraid of being hurt again, like before.

Are these the true friends You've promised me?

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A/N: So...what did you guys think? Funny thing is, when the Drummania thing happened, both Rina-chan and I got the 'S' in 'Russian Roulette', one after the other...XD It was cool, though...and now my sister is hooked on the thing as well, playing almost the exact same songs I did when I went on...Rina-chan, however, stopped playing, for some strange reason...

Anyway...Dewa mata! Peace out and God bless!